


Press START

by Writing_in_SIN



Series: Chasing Eucatastrophe [3]
Category: Kamen Rider - All Media Types, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Introspection, Parental Hinata Kyoutarou
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-07 05:40:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21452920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writing_in_SIN/pseuds/Writing_in_SIN
Summary: Both Emu and Parad are lying side by side on the roof, hands clasped between them as their laughter fills the air— together and never to be parted again.
Relationships: Houjou Emu & Parad (Kamen Rider Ex-Aid), Houjou Emu/Parad
Series: Chasing Eucatastrophe [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1544239
Kudos: 35





	Press START

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: While the fic is Gen, what the relationship between Emu and Parad is up to your interpretation. Honestly speaking, I see their relationship as something that not only has no definition but is actually BEYOND definition; literally something that's beyond their very identity. I mean, how do you define a relationship of two people that have a connection similar to that of a soul bond? So how you want to see their relationship as is up to you.
> 
> Do I ship ParaEmu? YES!
> 
> But that doesn't mean everyone does so how you wanna see them is up to you readers. Just keep in mind that whenever I write the relationship between Emu and Parad, it's going to be intimate because of the reasons I've mentioned above. 
> 
> Anyway, please read the tags in case if there's something that you may not like and hope you'll enjoy the fic.
> 
> ____________________________
> 
> LANGUAGE NOTES:
> 
> * Shingikan: Deputy Director-General

* * *

**Press START**

* * *

It all comes full circle.

Hinata Kyoutarou walks through the halls of Seito University Hospital with quiet purpose. In the weeks after Gamedeus and Cronus' defeat, things have been pandemonium. Ensuring the safety of the public, eradicating anything related to Kamen Rider Chronicle, the press conference— it's all been a tiring ordeal. Nevertheless, what had been the most trying was watching helplessly as the young man who is like a son to him battling a grief that none could hope to even begin to understand.

"You say that he's back from the operation?" Kyoutarou asks, glancing at Poppy.

The bugster smiles brightly up at him. "Yessir! Finished it in one fell swoop too!"

"That's good." Stepping into the elevator, he watches as Poppy presses the button for the roof. "And is he alright?"

There's relief in Poppy's smile as she nods. "Much better now since Parad came back."

"I'm glad," Kyoutarou says, feeling tension bleeds out of his shoulders when he hears that.

He's been in the medical world for years, so he knows that everyone handles grief differently. Nonetheless, some of the reports he received from Director Kagami regarding Emu before Parad's resurrection had him worried to a point where Kyoutarou had seriously contemplated putting Emu on leave— especially after being informed of the occasions when the young intern had been caught laughing or talking to himself. While that itself was worrying, it somewhat expected in response to grief. However, the fact that Emu didn't always remember his actions made the situation a great deal more alarming.

It wasn't until Dan Kuroto spoke up that Kyoutarou's worries were somewhat assuaged.

_Parad is making his return._

_How can you tell?_

_Because Houjou Emu is showing the exact same symptoms before we extracted Parad from him. Daydreaming. Talking to himself. Short blackouts. It's not dissociation but...it's similar enough to be mistaken as such._

_...So what do you suggest?_

_Let him be. As much as it pains me to say this but, Parad is a unique Bugster. He doesn't need to be programmed by my divine talents like Poppy currently needs to make his return. He just needs Houjou Emu to want him back._

_Then I'll tell him—_

_Not yet. It'll cause him undue stress._

_Why would it?_

_Because we don't know how long Parad needs to reform himself. It could take weeks, months. Maybe even years. The false hope will only slow down the process._

_Poppy informed me before that you hated Parad. Why would you be concerned if his return is delayed?_

_I hated that he betrayed me. Unfortunately, years of having to take care of that gremlin has forced me to see him as an indispensable fixture in furthering the growth of the ultimate guinea pig that is Houjou Emu. That is why, in my wealth of divine generosity, I've decided to forgive him for his past transgression! Bwuahahahaha!_

_...I see._

While he was cautious of trusting in Dan Kuroto's words, in the end, he let Emu be just as advised.

As days turned into weeks, Kyoutarou read the reports with care. He was heartened when he didn't even need to ask the other gamer doctors for their help in ensuring Emu's health as they did so without complaints; their worry for the exhausted and weary intern too obvious for them to even bother hiding. While it had been a relief to see that Emu's passion hadn't waned in the face of such hardships since being a CR doctor or the tragedies that had followed after Kamen Rider Chronicle, it was still painful to watch how Emu's steps became slower, shoulders weighted down with burdens that he shouldn't ever have to carry on his own. It had been to a point where Emu had spent more of his time sleeping on his breaks rather than playing games with the kids he's so fond of.

Even his smile, while still genuine and sincere, had been dimmer; fainter than before.

It reminded him too much of the 8 year old boy with listless eyes and brittle smile; more eager to stay in the hospital rather than go back to an empty house.

In an ironic twist, the moments that had so concerned him, ended up being a respite for Emu. Whenever the intern was caught talking or laughing to himself, it was reported that in those times, Emu had been at his most liveliest and dare he say it, happiest. As time goes on, Emu had shown to disassociate less and was regaining more of his enthusiasm. Hopeful, almost; as if he subconsciously knew that Parad was returning. Having to watch that steady progress made Kyoutarou have a bit more faith in the good that Parad is capable of.

Kyoutarou has only heard of the elusive Parad from Poppy's reports which had mostly been about a bugster that was too cunning, too clever, too eager to play a cruel game. Out of all the Bugsters he's known about or encountered, Kyoutarou can willingly admit that the threat Parad posed terrifies him far more than even Gamedeus.

The Origin. The Progenitor of the Bugsters...and the only Bugster that was born, not created.

Kyoutarou had warily accepted that somehow along the way, Parad had became an ally of CR; someone fiercely loyal to Emu. Despite that, Kyoutarou was careful not to put too much trust in Parad; not after the harm he caused to the public and to Emu himself.

That is, until the report of Parad's sacrifice reached him.

When he saw how devastated Emu was because of Parad's death (to the point where medical personnel had to actually sedate the young intern just to keep him from falling into another panic attack), he knew he needed to lay his grievances to rest, if nothing else than to offer his support to Emu as much as he could. There had never been much he could do for the boy he has come to consider a son so, Kyoutarou had done all he could; either as a listening ear or a mentor for Emu. When the day finally came where Poppy was fully restored, he had been informed by Poppy herself that she could feel her fellow Bugster's return approaching fast. At that point, Kyoutarou made his decision to not only reinstate Poppy into CR, but to also recruit Parad as well. He made sure both Poppy and Dan Kuroto were made aware, so that they can use that knowledge as a trigger for Emu.

Which seemed to have worked quite favourably if the sight before him is anything to go by.

"They look happy," Poppy whispers beside him with a smile.

And they certainly do.

Both Emu and Parad are lying side by side on the roof, hands clasped between them as their laughter fills the air— together and never to be parted again.

Heart easing at the sight, Kyoutarou sighs in relief. With all that's happened, he'd been worried that Emu will never recover but fortunately, things turn out far better than what he initially thought. While it's true that their battle against game disease has only just begun, for the first time in years, Kyoutarou believes that they have a fighting chance.

How can they not, when they now have both Emu and Parad; the two origins, finally smiling and laughing together?

"It's a happy ending, right, Hinata-shingikan?" Poppy asks eagerly, watching the two boys with fond eyes.

Watching the human and bugster pair, he's suddenly reminded of a distant memory from years back; of a boy who loves games and laughed with his shadow. He remembers how it used to scare him and the nurses but looking back, he should've known that was how it's always meant to be; a happiness that can only be found when someone is truly home.

"No," he disagrees, smiling at the young doctor who is no longer a lonely little boy and the impish bugster who ceased to be just a shadow. "No, it's a happy _beginning."_


End file.
